I can’t recall when I wrote the resignation letter: Nasheed

Former President Mohamed Nasheed speaking to the press last Tuesday. PHOTO/ IBRAHIM FAID

Former president Mohamed Nasheed said that he cannot recall whether he had written the letter of resignation before or after meeting the cabinet on February 7.

Speaking at a press conference held last Tuesday by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) revealing that the party will be hiring an overseas organization to investigate and document the circumstances of the power transfer on February 7, Nasheed said by the time he was able to meet his cabinet “nothing more could be done.”

“I can’t remember if I met members of the cabinet before or after signing the resignation letter, I’ve heard around three different accounts so I think we need to refresh our memories,” he said.

He had said that by the time he was taken to the president’s office from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) headquarters he had been “bowed” into resigning and that the milieu at the president’s office will only be known once investigations are completed.

Claiming that the administration had been brought down by a coup he shared some of the reasons behind his resignation with journalists.

“The vice president claims that he did not know a coup was taking place, while the former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom denies any involvement in the toppling of the government. More would come to light after the investigation. At around 11 am that day police and military used weapons and broke into the state media station TVM. They were announcing around then that the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) was under their control. Police and the army were seen distributing the weapons they had to the people. It was even announced that the president had been given a deadline by which to make a decision. This is not easy for me to say publicly. I was not handed over to the public. It is known that even some businessmen made calls saying that I’d be handed over to the people within this many minutes,” Nasheed said.

When asked by a journalist why he did not paid any heed to the demand by the security forces that assurances must be given that the government will not issue any orders that will violate the constitution, he responded that “former police commissioner Ahmed Faseeh had declared that the officers mutinying against the government were no longer considered police personnel and hence to work from a different angle had not been on the cards.”

He also said that though several cases are being investigated against him by the police since his resignation, he was not afraid and was certain he would not be tried in a court of law.

He said that campaigning for an early presidential election will continue even if it took 13 months of protests.